Gothenburg Botanical Garden is undoubtedly the most beautiful Botanical Garden I’ve visited in Europe. And that’s high praise, because I’ve been to a lot. It’s only *just* beaten globally by Singapore, which is effectively the highest accolade I can give any garden.
I’m quite boring and I’m a keen gardener, I love my plants now and spend hours in my garden at home. So Botanical Gardens are always lovely to me – but this was special, and even if you’re not in to plants, it’s such a great place to visit regardless. So given I fell in love with it, I thought it only right to take you on a tour!
Contents
- Contents
- How to get to Gothenburg Botanical Garden
- Important Visitor Information
- What to see at Gothenburg Botanical Garden
How to get to Gothenburg Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden is quite far out of Central Gothenburg. You can reach it via:
- Taxi – the quickest but also most costly route
- Walking – from the centre it will take around 50 minutes
- Tram – you can take the tram line 1 direct from outside Gothenburg Central Station (stop Göteborg Centralst Drottningt) in the direction of Tynnered Opaltorget and get off at the stop Göteborg Botaniska Trädgården.
I recommend taking the tram as it’s really good value and super easy. There are card reading machines as you board, just past the driver, and you just swipe any debit card and all travel on the trams is valid for 90 minutes, costing about £3.
Important Visitor Information
- Entrance to the gardens are free, though you can leave a voluntary donation
- The greenhouses are currently closed for renovation (as of May 2024), but if you want to visit they charge an entrance fee of around £2.50. Per the website, these are not re-opening until 2028, along with a new Visitor Centre.
- The Botanical garden is open every day, all year round, 24 hours a day.
- There is a small shop onsite, as well as a cafe and a number of vans (coffee, ice-cream etc).
- There are toilets on site in two places (at the cafe, and in the Rhododendron section of the garden).
- You can book wheelchairs for use in the garden in the shop, but this has to be done in advance and is only available April – October.
- Dogs are not allowed
- You can download the Garden’s App, Botaniska, and use it if you want a guided walk around the Garden.
- The Garden is over 185 acres, so there is no way you will see it all in one visit! I spent 5 hours here in total on my visit – if you whip round you might only need 1 hour, but it’s really worth spending more.
What to see at Gothenburg Botanical Garden
Herb Garden
The herb garden was a calm little slice of the Botanical Garden, home to a lot of aromatic and medicinal herbs. I learned a lot about the history of how these plants have been used to treat various illnesses and infections. There are also a selection of benches to sit on, and it’s a quiet and peaceful corner to relax in.
Japanese Garden
The Japanese Garden is absolutely beautiful, and was my favourite part of the whole site. The highlight is the very special Handkerchief Tree, often voted the most beautiful tree in the world. Unfortunately it wasn’t in bloom at the time of my visit, but I still sat down and read my book for 30 minutes here to enjoy the serenity on a bench with the water trickling in the background.
Smith’s Hollow
Smith’s Hollow lies in the middle of the Botanical Garden and is a path through the trees up to a look out view point. It’s a nice area to get a bit of shade on a hot day!
Perennials
This area of the Garden focuses on perennials, and plants that can be grown in your garden at home. On my visit, a botanist was there to give advice on specific plants, so I asked about caring for my alliums at home, and how to nourish soil in an area of my garden where everything dies. They also had a number of plants and cuttings for sale.
Rock Garden
The rock garden was another of my favourite corners; with a little waterfall an then lots of plants in between all the rocks. It just looked picture perfect. In this section, you’ll find all the plants that deal with hot and dry climates, and can grow from rocks. Not too much was in bloom on my visit, but there were some pretty and delicate flowers starting to come out.
Alpine House
The Alpine House is home to all the alpine plants – it’s even been home to the Alpine Onion since the 1920s! The house itself has just been re-opened and is a really modern facility showcasing the best on offer. Interestingly, the gardens also run learning workshops in the Alpine House to learn more about the delicate species it hosts.
Rhododendron Drive
I love a rhododendron and there were plenty to see here! There is a whole area, probably the size of about 4 of my gardens, just full of rhododendrons. They weren’t in peak bloom (I needed a few more weeks for that rather than visiting in early May), but there were still plenty to see. Aren’t they just lovely!
The Arboretum
The largest part of the gardens is a huge Arboretum area full of walking trails. To finish off my visit, I did a 5km hike out in nature around the Arboretum. I honestly just had such a good day, easily spending 5 hours in the Gardens and having to cancel some other things I’d had my eye on doing!
Without a doubt, Gothenburg’s Botanical Gardens are different from ‘standard’ gardens as they have documented collections of plants for research, preservation and educational purposes. And as the natural habitats for plants change, botanical gardens are becoming more and more important all over the world to help protect endangered species. I really felt that here, more than in any other I’ve visited – with over 20,000 plant species and hybrids from over 130 countries – they truly were a ‘living’ museum/exhibition. I felt so lucky to see the ‘collection’ and as one of the largest and most special collections of its kind in Europe, I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Stay safe and happy travelling!
Travelling Han 
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